corporate communications

In 2008, social media advanced from bright shiny oddity to a truly  integrated, two-way communications vehicle.  To recognize this, we are jointly assembling a “best of” 2008 list via a series of posts from our authors.  Learning from one of the biggest successes of 2008, Twitter, posts will be limited to 100 words starting…NOW

A lawmaker is bringing the issue of net neutrality back into the spotlight. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) plans to introduce a bill in January that would stop Internet service providers from blocking and managing certain Internet content.

Using Twitter for Crisis Communications is as much about preventing an isolated issue from becoming a full-blown crisis as it is about communicating to the public once a crisis has hit. As in all corporate communications, Twitter needs to be part of a broader strategy, and one of a variety of (social) media channels you use to listen and share with your customers, clients, and industry – both when it comes to prevention, and when it is time to react.

Using Twitter for Crisis Communications is as much about preventing an isolated issue from becoming a full-blown crisis as it is about communicating to the public once a crisis has hit. As in all corporate communications, Twitter needs to be part of a broader strategy, and one of a variety of (social) media channels you use to listen and share with your customers, clients, and industry – both when it comes to prevention, and when it is time to react.

There's no question that the Internet serves as a great megaphone for organizations that want to conduct business around the globe. The web can communicate your message to more people and more locations than any previous communications channel ever could. However, with the ever-growing number and influence of online social networks, blogs, and forums, an increasing number of voices can be heard, and word certainly travels fast.

As part of its new $300 million marketing campaign and image makeover, Microsoft Corp. plans to deploy its own customer-service representatives at retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City to help people with their PC purchases.

The world's largest software company plans to have 155 "Microsoft Gurus" in U.S. stores by the end of the year, and expand based on the project's success, Microsoft's general manager of corporate communications, Tom Pilla, said Friday.

Comcast has made it official with a new policy posted on its Web site early Friday: Starting Oct. 1, home Internet service customers will be limited to 250GB of data transfer per month. According to the company, the move is in response to heavy usage by some customers that can cause network congestion.

Charlie Douglas, director of corporate communications for Comcast's online services, said, "The amount of data measured is aggregate monthly usage of uploads and downloads."

Comcast has made it official: Home Internet service customers are limited to 250GB of data per month. According to the company, the move is in response to heavy usage by some customers that can cause network congestion.

The new policy was posted on Comcast's Web site early Friday, and the meter starts running on Oct. 1.

Charlie Douglas, director of corporate communications for online services, said, "The amount of data measured is aggregate monthly usage of uploads and downloads."

As Macintosh computers make some inroads into the enterprise, they are still behind in certain areas of corporate communications. On Tuesday, Microsoft took a step toward closing a bit of that gap by releasing its Messenger for Mac 7 with audio and video support, if users are connected via Office Communications Server 2007.